Recent Read: Real Friends

Real Friends by Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Friendship is not always an easy thing to navigate. Shannon Hale recalls her own real childhood in this memoir about the hazards of making friends. She becomes instant best friends with Adrienne in kindergarten, but it becomes a little more complicated in third grade when Adrienne becomes friends with the most popular girl in her class. Adrienne is welcomed at the top of the pack while Shannon is relegated to the bottom. Often others (particularly one) in “The Group” make fun of Shannon and try to undermine her. Meanwhile, at home, her oldest sister, Wendy, is alternately nice and abusive. Hale and Pham depict Wendy as a wild bear who could strike at any moment. Shannon has days where she spends recess crying in the bushes and gets home only to have to run from the bear. Her path is not always clear, but through all the messiness of real life, Shannon learns what it is to have and be a real friend.

I think sometimes we think of these social hierarchy problems (queen bees and wannabes) emerging in middle or high school, but I experienced them most strongly in elementary school, and it looks like Shannon Hale might have as well. I remember being phased out of the cool group when I was in third grade. As I saw Shannon’s pain, I felt it and related to it. LeUyen Pham notes in the acknowledgments, “my heart is still convinced that you [Hale] crawled inside my memories and handpicked all these events and feelings and insecurities from my childhood and called them your own.” I tend to think that the book will have this effect on many readers, as it did me. And while I had no siblings, the portrayal of her difficulties with her sister still affected me because of the authenticity of it. Hale deftly maneuvers through this story, and while the central focus is friendship (particularly female), she manages to touch on other complex subjects like anxiety, sister relationships, empathy, and identity.

In the lovely author’s note, Hale says, “Real Friends is the story I’ve been telling myself about my elementary school years. If you were to ask the other people portrayed in this book how it happened, surely the story they’ve been telling themselves would be different from mine.” She provides a little extra context and some follow up on some of the people in the story, like Wendy. She wraps it up by encouraging her readers, “You deserve to have real friends.”

Then there are the illustrations! It’s so easy to take illustrations for granted. LeUyen Pham's illustrations brim with life. She captures all the emotions so brilliantly in her drawings. She knows how to use color and space to accentuate and depict the story. She incorporates the bear and dreamy fantasy sequences seamlessly. I can’t do her work justice!

And did I mention it was so engaging I read it in one sitting? Regardless of whatever personal, emotional impact this may have had on me, this is one fantastic little book.

Recent Read: Roller Girl

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson 

The moment Astrid sees roller derby in action, she’s in love. All she wants to do is become a star player like Rainbow Bite. But her best friend Nicole, with whom she does just about everything, is not as enthused. Astrid finds herself embarking on her new passion alone, while Nicole spends more and more time in ballet with Astrid’s sworn enemy. As Astrid’s fear of losing her best friend takes over, she risks losing Nicole, her new roller derby friend, and her developing roller derby skills.

I loved this book. It’s a story about growing up and figuring out who your friends are and who you are, set against the exciting backdrop of roller derby. When Astrid finds out there’s a roller derby summer camp, she’s in, and she assumes her best friend is with her. Thanks to Jamieson’s deft illustrations, we can see the hesitation in Nicole’s face where Astrid does not. Astrid signs up for camp, and excitedly talks about it with Nicole, only to find that Nicole is not going to derby camp, she’s going to ballet camp.

Now she has to face derby camp all alone, while her best friend spends more and more time with perennial mean girl Rachel. From there, Astrid struggles with the physical difficulty of her would-be passion. Her worry over losing her best friend turns to a sort of vengeful jealousy. She also explores this new-found world of roller derby, with its colorful characters (and hair). I can’t believe how much emotional depth, not to mention entertainment, Jamieson packed into this 240-page book. I fully expect it to make my top 10 at the end of the year.

Recent Read: El Deafo

El Deafo by Cece Bell

At the age of four, Cece loses her hearing after a bad bout of meningitis. She must now navigate the world with the help of powerful hearing aids that allow her to hear, but not always understand, the sounds around her.

As she enters a new school where everyone but her can hear, she becomes the deaf girl, trapped in a bubble that no one dares approach. Her very visible Phonic Ear seems to ward off her classmates, but she discovers that it gives her superpowers! Not only can she hear her teacher in the classroom, but anywhere in the building—scolding a student in the hallway, complaining to other teachers in the lounge, and even the “zzzip” “tinkle” sound of her teacher going to the bathroom! Thus her superhero alter ego, El Deafo, is born.

This is author-illustrator Cece Bell’s own story. Her deafness may set her apart, but the emotions she feels and challenges she faces are universal. What Cece desires most is to find the elusive true friend. It’s a journey that’s painful at times, but always told with a strong dose of humor.

Bell deftly communicates the experience of being deaf. First we see empty speech bubbles, then the unclear dialogue that she compares to listening to someone underwater (“I thig you loo goo”). She depicts what Cece thinks she hears next to what someone is actually saying (“doo yoo wan sumding do dring? We haff Jerry’s mop…shoes…or a goat” cherry pop, juice, coke). She goes to a special school to learn how to lip read and decipher visual, contextual, and gestural clues.

But Bell’s expressive skill does not end there. Her depictions of day to day life (which includes everything from TV to crushes) are relatable and funny. Cece’s struggle to find a good friend, though she’s at times trapped in a “bubble of loneliness,” while at others trapped with friends that don’t treat her very well, rings true.

In the author’s note Cece Bell talks about deafness and how this is a depiction of her unique experience and emotions. As a child, she believed for a time that her deafness made her different, disabled, and ashamed. But she came to appreciate it. “And being different?” she says, “That turned out to be the best part of all. I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers."

I highly recommend this funny, heartwarming graphic novel. It’s the best children’s book I’ve read all year.

Recent Read: Through the Woods

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

In one story from Emily Carroll’s Gothic collection of graphic short stories, a new bride arrives at a manor house that is now hers. At night she hears a sad song:

"I married my love in the springtime, but by summer he'd locked me away. He'd murdered me dead by the autumn, and by winter I was naught but decay. It's so cold where I am and so lonely but in loneliness I will remain, unloved, unavenged, and forgotten, until I am whole once again." 

She goes searching through the house--in the walls, under the floor. And this is what she finds:

It gets creepier, as do all of Emily Carroll’s stories in this haunting collection. The beautiful illustrations, as you can see, contribute to the eerie tone. I half expected some ghostly hand to reach out and pull me into its depths. A must for fans of horror and another great read for Halloween.

Recent Read: Boxers & Saints

Boxers &  Saints by Gene Luen Yang

Having watched as Christian Westerners abuse his family and village, young Bao learns martial arts and recruits others to go with him to fight the “foreign devils” of the West. He forms the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist, a group who take on the identities of the gods of Chinese Opera as they seek to destroy Christianity in China and kill its followers.

 Young Four-Girl joins Christianity after being rejected by her family because she was born on the wrong day (of the wrong month of the wrong year). But it’s a dangerous time to be Christian in China, and soon she faces the fearsome violence of Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist.

In this incredibly thought-provoking pair of graphic novels, Yang tells the intertwined stories of two young people on opposite sides of a volatile conflict. In Boxers, Bao takes on the superhero-like identity of a god of the Opera as he endeavors to defeat the villainous Christians, while in Saints, an abused and rejected Four-Girl finds acceptance and belonging (and a real name) with those that her family calls devils. Both receive spiritual visitations: Bao, from the domineering first emperor of China, Chin Shi Huang; Four-Girl/Vibiana, from the earnest Joan of Arc. Yang throws the reader into the middle of the action—in all its shocking violence—bringing to life a time of upheaval and high emotions. By writing two novels from different perspectives, Yang provides a more full understanding and well-rounded view of the events. I read all the overlapping scenes side by side after I finished the books, and I found new insights in every one.

Each volume works as a satisfying stand-alone graphic novel. Both stories are interesting, nuanced, and bring up the kind of questions of character, morality and motivation that make a story interesting. But together, they are not only a story of the Boxer Rebellion, but an examination of the idea of sides and war. Is there a good side and a bad side at all? Who are the heroes—or are there any? Who were the protagonists of the Boxer Rebellion?

 This is a fascinating question that Yang asks, but I think my love for the books is more about the characters—Bao and Vibiana—than anything else. Their journeys, their imperfections, their youth and immaturity (because many Boxers were just teenagers), their character, and perhaps most powerfully, their deaths had a profound effect on me.

I also appreciated the artistry of the books. Just look at the covers. Each works individually without the other, but together we see parallels and symmetry, completion of halves, ampersands we didn’t even notice were there. That’s how the content of the books is.

 

Recent Read: Smile

Raina is going about her everyday life as a sixth grader--school, girl scouts, friends, etc--when she trips and falls, knocking out her two front teeth. She must then visit various dental specialists to figure out how to get her teeth back to normal. She endures painful surgeries and orthodontia, all while going to school, experiencing puberty, dealing with boys and transitioning from middle school to high school.

I never knew a book about dentistry could be so delightful. It was wonderful! Raina Telgemeier (very deservedly) won an Eisner Award for Smile which is based on her own experiences (that includes the teeth, the earthquake, and the pantsing). I love that it centers around dentistry, orthodontia, and surgery. These kinds of experiences have become pretty prevalent these days, and I think there's a lot for young people to relate to (I sure did, having had many years of my own dental nightmares). As I read, I sometimes laughed aloud as I saw her perfect depiction of things like having a mold of your teeth made, getting your braces tightened, and attaching rubber bands to them. It's infused with humor throughout despite the trauma of it all. And it's not just about her teeth--it's about getting older, figuring out where you belong, finding friends, gaining confidence in the right aspects of yourself, and overcoming trials. Telgemeier is so good at capturing the emotions of this age (the boy-centered daydreams cracked me up). All around excellent.

Telgemeier recently posted a sketch from her next graphic novel called Sisters. I can't wait.

Recent Read: Drama

Callie thinks her crush is finally in a position to sweep her off her feet when he goes back to his ex-girlfriend. As annoyed and hurt as Callie is, she has lots of friends in her middle school drama department and lots to keep her busy as she designs awesome set pieces for the upcoming musical. Soon Callie meets a couple of twins who, in addition to becoming involved in theater with her, present some interesting romantic possibilities. Drama unfolds both on stage and off in this fun, light-hearted graphic novel.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier is a fun, entertaining read. Telgemeier's illustrations are colorful and humorous. I'm sure current and former theater kids will enjoy it. The "drama" was great and very typical of this time of life I thought--crushes and gossip and the school play. And perhaps best of all, Telgemeier handles the discovery of self and sexual orientation really well. It reminded me of something that happened between two people in my own 9th grade class. The lgbtq aspect of the book is handled in an age-appropriate (middle grade), positive, and almost innocent way.

Releases September 1


Based on NetGalley uncorrected proof.

Recent Read: Friends With Boys

For whatever reason, this is a difficult book for me to encapsulate/introduce in a few sentences, so here's my best effort:

In Faith Erin Hicks's Friends With Boys, Maggie is starting her very first day of high school after being home-schooled by her mother her whole life. But her mother's just left, and so Maggie is left with three rough-housing brothers, a hippie police chief father, and no friends at her new high school. As if that weren't enough, she's haunted by a local ghost who won't leave her alone, and she can't figure out why. In this skillfully drawn graphic novel, Maggie navigates change, school, family, and friendship. What I thought lifted this above the average (besides the wonderful illustrations) was the treatment of deeper themes: dealing with change, and family relationships and dynamics. Oh, and did I mention that the people who befriend her at school are a brother and sister who both have mohawks? You can read the first 20 pages here.